News Item
Chief Justice Gildea Accepts eCourtMN Innovation Award

Posted: Friday, August 8, 2014

The Minnesota Judicial Branch’s eCourtMN Initiative received a 2014 State Government Innovation Award during a ceremony at the Minnesota History Center on Thursday, August 7. The award, presented by the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey School of Public Affairs Public and Nonprofit Leadership Center, is designed to recognize the great work of state government agencies and encourage an environment of experimentation and innovation in Minnesota.

“Throughout the Judicial Branch, we are implementing an ambitious redesign agenda that is utilizing new technologies and reengineered business practices to make Minnesota’s court system more accessible, more efficient, and more transparent,” said Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice Lorie S. Gildea, who accepted the award on behalf of the Judicial Branch. “The eCourtMN Initiative is the centerpiece of these efforts, and we are so proud to have this recognition and are honored by this award.”

The eCourtMN Initiative is transforming the state’s court system by replacing paper-based court files with an electronic information environment. Through eCourtMN, court documents will be filed and served electronically, while judges and court staff will be given new tools to review, sign, and process court documents on their computers. The electronic delivery and transfer of court documents will produce considerable efficiencies in court operations and faster results for court customers. In addition, the eCourtMN Initiative will increase access to court information for the public and government agencies.

The eCourtMN Initiative began in 2011, and is being completed in four phases, each lasting approximately one year. The Minnesota Judicial Branch has completed the first two phases of the initiative, including an 11-county pilot project where electronic filing and service of court documents was tested and refined. The Branch is currently testing the electronic tools that judges and court staff will use in the courthouse, and will begin the process of expanding electronic filing and service of court documents to the rest of Minnesota’s 87 counties next year.

More information on the 2014 State Government Innovation Awards can be found at http://sgia.umn.edu/. More information on the eCourtMN Initiative can be found at http://www.mncourts.gov/ecourtmn.

 

Chief Justice Gildea accepts a 2014 State Government Innovation award for the Minnesota Jusicial Branch's eCourtMN Initiative
Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice Lorie S. Gildea (left) accepts a 2014 State Government Innovation Award for the Minnesota Judicial Branch’s eCourtMN Initiative. The award was presented by Jay Kiedrowski (right), Senior Fellow in the Public and Nonprofit Leadership Center at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs, during a ceremony at the Minnesota History Center on Thursday, August 7.